Paula Abdul's cryptic Tweet: Hinting at an 'American Idol' return?

Image Credit: Frank Micelotta/Getty ImagesPaula Abdul has a penchant for Tweeting famous quotations. In the last week alone, she’s shared with her followers the wisdom of Elbert Hubbard, Evelyn Underhill, J.C. Watts, and Mohandas Gandhi. But did her decision last night to Tweet a Winston Churchill saying — “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on.” — have anything to do with rampant Internet speculation about who’ll be seated at the American Idol judges’ table when the show returns for its tenth season in January 2011? Or, more specifically, could that Tweet have been a hint that after a one-season absence, Paula herself might be mulling a return to The House That Kelly Clarkson Built?

After all, sources close to the show tell EW that former executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is all but certain to sign a deal to return to Fox’s ratings juggernaut in the next few weeks, and what’s more, Lythgoe said in an interview last spring that in the wake of Simon Cowell’s Idol exit, he thought the ideal rebooted panel would consist of Usher, Elton John, and Paula Abdul.

Abdul’s rep did not respond to EW’s request to find out if the Churchill quotation was code for “Tell Seacrest to surrender his styling gel and get my Coke cup ready; I’m coming back to Idol!,” while a Fox spokesperson said the network is “not commenting on any rumors or speculation.” (For the record, Abdul is currently in the casting stage of her new CBS dance-competition program; check out her wacky promo video for the show below.) Still, I’ve got to wonder how all of you would feel about hearing Paula utter the words “you look beautiful tonight” as a kind and gentle way to express “that performance was rubbish.” Tell us by taking our highly scientific PopWatch poll!